State higher education leaders tell The Advocate stricter admission standards are needed as Louisiana transitions to a new model where college completion trumps college access. But college officials across the state say the impact of the standards could lead to lower enrollment numbers.

UNO was joined by LSU, the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and Louisiana Tech University this fall as the first four schools prohibited from offering remedial courses to freshmen.

Louisiana Board of Regents Chief of Staff Kim Hunter Reed says the policy shift came in response to a state Legislature that had become increasingly alarmed as more and more dollars were being spent on remedial education at four-year schools.